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Holy Names Academy

Private school · Seattle, King County · grades 9-12 · Catholic (Sisters of the Holy Names, founded 1880)

Snapshot

K-12 enrollment
555
SBE-reported, 2024-25
Tuition (top division)
$26,520
2026-27, school-published
Student-teacher ratio
13.2:1
NCES PSS, 2021-22
Teachers (FTE)
46
NCES PSS, 2021-22

Identity and approval

Campus
Holy Names Academy, 728 21st Ave E, Seattle 98112
Host public district
Seattle School District
Grades
9-12
Religious affiliation
Catholic (Sisters of the Holy Names, founded 1880)
Coed / single-sex
girls
Accreditation
NWAIS; Cognia
Website
https://www.holynames-sea.org
WA SBE approval
2026-27 (state-approved private school)
Profit status
Nonprofit

Enrollment

9101112
142123145145

Enrollment by grade, 2024-25 school year, as reported to the WA State Board of Education.

Tuition and financial aid

Annual tuition
$26,520 (2026-27)
By division / fees
2025-26 was $25,020. Fees: $650 registration, activity fee $275-490, books/class fees $275-725.
Financial aid
2025-26: $2.44M available; 30.7% of students on financial aid; 155 named endowments/scholarships.

Source: the school's own tuition page · aid page, observed 2026-07-03. Tuition changes annually, verify before applying.

Academics

Curriculum
AP: 16 AP courses; 94% of AP testers scored 3+ (2025).
College matriculation
Publishes 2022-2025 matriculation; Class of 2025: 100% enrolled at 85 colleges in 26 states.
Washington private schools are not required to publish state assessment results, and this school's internal test data is not public. Unlike the public-school pages on this site, no score comparison is possible here, treat curriculum labels and matriculation lists as the available evidence.

Student demographics

Asian
7%
Black
5%
Hispanic
4%
White
61%

NCES Private School Universe Survey, 2021-22 (the most recent federal collection). Private-school demographics are reported biennially and lag public-school data.

Competition evidence

Known results compiled from public competition listings (National Merit press lists, tournament PDFs, The Blue Alliance). A missing result is not evidence of absence.

Research dossier

Holy Names Academy

Independent Catholic girls' school on Capitol Hill, Seattle · grades 9-12 · 555 students (Washington State Board of Education, 2024-25) · founded 1880, the oldest continuously operating high school in Washington

The verdict

Holy Names is Seattle's counter-programming. While much of the region's independent-school market has drifted toward bespoke curricula, optional testing, and de-emphasized grades, Holy Names Academy (HNA) runs the opposite play: 16 Advanced Placement (AP) courses with the national exam mandatory for every enrolled student, a weighted A-F scale, prescriptive graduation requirements including four years of theology, and a dress code enforced from a handbook. The wager is that structure plus an all-girls environment produces confidence and results, and the school can point to a 94% AP pass rate in 2025, a 100% four-year-college matriculation rate, and a crew program that has reached USRowing Youth Nationals twenty years running. At $26,520 for 2026-27, it costs roughly half of Seattle's elite secular independents, and 44% of students aren't Catholic. The trade is real, though: theology is universal, service hours are a graduation requirement, and the school openly reserves the right to counsel out students who can't sustain the load. A self-directed kid who chafes at rules should think hard. A motivated student who does her best work inside clear expectations will find few better-tuned machines.

Researched 2026-07-04. Citations and claim ledger included in the full dossier.

That is the free excerpt. The full dossier covers what the school's own marketing won't: admissions mechanics and real selectivity, all-in cost and aid behavior, matriculation depth, culture and fit signals, institutional health, every claim cited and dated. Unlock it for $9, or get a $29 Research Pass with 3 dossiers included.

The real comparison is against your public options.

Tuition here runs five figures a year, the question is what it buys over the public schools your address already gives you. A $29 Research Pass unlocks score trends, peer percentiles, competition evidence, gifted-pathway detail, and PTA capacity on every public school in the region, plus 3 full research dossiers for the schools on your shortlist.

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Sources

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